Just a quick question: what quantity and type of oil is required for a routine service for a 2009 1.8 petrol 125hp? Am I right in thinking 6L of 5w 30 is correct? Such as: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Ford-Oil-5W30-Formula-F-6-Litres-Full-Synthetic-/230865867220

Duncan, did they replace the belt and the tensioner or just the belt? When they diagnosed mine the car was still under warranty and Benfield Ford (Harrogate) tried the "wear and tear" trick on me. But if you look at the Ford service schedule for the 1.8 petrol, the aux belt is not supposed to be replaced until 100,000 miles. So for it to become faulty at 2 1/2 years old and 25,000 miles, there's obviously an issue or crap parts. I pointed this out to them and they replaced the belt and tensioner under warranty.

Yeah might consider getting some non-genuine ST 18" alloys if Lewism won't give his up :) The alloy spokes on that red ZS look thinner than the genuine RS alloys. Personally I hate black alloys! I like what he's done with the exhaust though, I want to do the same but on one side only.

The aux-in port is on the top of the glove compartment, just a hole surrounded by a grey disk, doesn't really look like one but it is! Mine had a faulty auxilliary belt tensioner which they replaced under warranty, along with the aux belt itself. I think it's quite a common issue. Have a listen to the engine starting and running when cold. It will make a clicky/squeeky noise if it's on the way out. It also caused an intermittent problem when slowing down and disengaging the clutch, the revs would increase steadily until pretty high, then drop back down to normal. Also check for rust caused by the rear window washer pipe rubbing on the bodywork at the top of the boot.

The MK2 has hydraulic steering but an electric motor pump which moves the fluid from side to side. This pump would stop working intermittently on my old car. Local Ford dealership quoted about £400 to replace, however I got a 2nd hand pump online from a newer model for about £120 then paid a friend to fit it for about £50.

Thanks Gregg. I just did your test and the revs did drop slowly to about 2000 hovered a bit then went down to about 900. I can't get the issue to reappear on cue. It's just sometimes when slowing down to standstill, clutch disengaged, and the revs go up!

I've had some issues with the revs of my car for a while now. After starting from cold, the idle revs would be about 1100rpm and then settle down to 900rpm after a few mins, then down to 700-800rpm when warmed up. This seemed a bit high. The issue was that when it was cold and you pressed and released the accelerator pedal, the revs dipped really low, sometimes almost stalling. So I took the car to a local Ford dealership and they said they ran diagnostics and reset the idle parameters etc on the car's computer. So nothing manual. Now the car still idles at the rpms above, but the dipping revs issue when pressing the accelerator has gone. However another intermittent issue has arisen whereby when I'm driving along and then slow down to a standstill, braking with the clutch disengaged, the revs go up to about 2500 - 3000rpm! And then once stationary, go down again. My question is, does this sound like an idle control valve problem? I don't know if my car has one?